I used the 10:1 mixtures last week to dye the 'Boring Beige' formula.  I had a good bit left over so saved it.  I left town for 5 days then returned to the dye room.  I made my other 2 'Boring Beige' samples.  The color was entirely different.  We have so much humidity here in the summer I never considered the mixtures would evaporate, but I think that is exactly what happened (air conditioning).  I had used the navy to make some other samples, so had a fresh amount of it.  I think that is why the color is so skewed to the red/gold range.  I love the coppery color, will do the Munsell notation and try to duplicate it.  Overnight I left another jar of 10:1 solution just to see and, sure enough, this morning there was a ring around the top of the liquid as a 'high water' mark.  I hope this saves someone else from making this mistake.  The two silk organza samples are on the left.  The two silk paj samples are on the right.

Please share your learning experiences.

Comments

Thu, 07/07/2011 - 22:03

Anne Vincent

I think this will happen to the soda ash mixtures, too, so now have a lid on the jars I've made ahead.

Thu, 07/07/2011 - 23:26

Karren K. Brito

In the pic I see browner samples on the right and greener ones on the left, which ones are the new ones?  I need the date when the stocks were made, when diluted, and dates of when the samples were dyed.

Only the water evaporates from the solutions.  So a solution that has had the water evaporated from it is more concentrated in dye. So the Navy stock was fresh and the scarlet and gold were older, right?

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 01:16

Anne Vincent

Yes - the scarlet, gold, and yellow were older.  I made them on Tuesday, 6/28 and used them again on Tuesday, 7/5 so a week in air conditioning had gone by.  The navy stock was fresh.  The greener ones are the 'Boring Beige' made yesterday 7/6 and match my first sample of that formula done on 6/28 with all fresh stocks.  The browner ones were made on 7/5 with the solutions which had experienced the evaporation.  They actually have a copper look to them in person.

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 02:10

Karren K. Brito

Ok, that makes sense.  The scarlet, yellow and gold were slightly more concentrated make the hue oranger.  I was worried that the dyes  had reacted with the water but just evaporation accounts for the differences.

 

I use these dispensing bottle for stock storage, in a pint or 500mL size. Cheap, easy to add to a graduated cylinder.  If the screw on cap leaks, use teflon tape on the threads.

 

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 11:35

Anne Vincent

These will be perfect. What is your source?  I store my 2% stock solutions in a 1000ml plastic bottle with a wide mouth.  I think they are made by Rubbermaid, but available at Kroger.

I've begun to weigh all the liquids as Linda does when I put them into the dye bath jars.  Just a few drops makes such a difference in the amounts we are using particularly for lighter DOS.  In larger dye baths I wouldn't do that.

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 13:29

Karren K. Brito

Since you all have balances you can all do this.  It is not always the fastest way but when accuracy counts, such as pale colors, it is the best.  Accurate volume measurements can be made but require specialized equipment (pipets, pipet fillers) and skill at using them.

I buy my dispensing bottles from a fairly local plastics manufacturer, US Plastics, $0.96 each. They are voluminous to ship, you may want to find a closer source to reduce shipping.